Contents

Plot[edit]

Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) Homicide Sergeant Roger Murtaugh (Danny Glover), having recently celebrated his 50th birthday, worries about the troubles of older age. He receives a message from Michael Hunsaker (Tom Atkins), an old Vietnam War friend turned banker who Murtaugh realizes he has not seen in over 12 years. Murtaugh is called to investigate a suicide and learns, to his surprise, that the victim is Hunsaker's daughter, Amanda.

Ex-U.S. Army Special Forces soldier-turned-L.A.P.D. Narcotics Sergeant Martin Riggs (Mel Gibson) is volatile and suicidal following the recent death of his wife in a traffic accident. During a drug bust, Riggs nearly kills a disarmed suspect after flying into a psychotic rage. His behavior worries Riggs' superiors, who transfer him to Homicide, making him and Murtaugh reluctant partners. A series of episodes put the two cops at odds with each other.

Amanda's autopsy results show that she had taken drugs laced with drain cleaner. Even though she jumped to her death, she would have died within minutes anyway – making her death a homicide. After informing her distraught father, who claims he was trying to contact Murtaugh to help Amanda get out of the world of drugs, prostitution and hardcore pornography, Riggs and Murtaugh question a pimp Amanda was connected to. Finding a drug lab on the premises, they engage in a brief gunfight, killing the pimp (which leads to respect between Murtaugh and Riggs after he saves Murtaugh's life). Having found the drugs and with the pimp dead, Murtaugh assumes the case is now closed, but Riggs finds it suspicious that the only witness to Amanda's suicide was a prostitute named Dixie (Lycia Naff), who was working away from her usual "stroll". They deduce that Dixie poisoned Amanda and then posed as a witness to cover her crime.

Riggs and Murtaugh head to Dixie's home to question her, but her house explodes just as they arrive. Riggs finds part of the bomb, recognizing it as a mercury switch, which only a professional would use. A neighborhood child remembers seeing a man with blond hair at Dixie's earlier who had a Special Forces tattoo similar to Riggs's own. Seeing a connection, they deduce that Hunsaker knows more than he has admitted and Murtaugh confronts him at Amanda's wake. Hunsaker admits that for more than two years he has been involved in a heroin-smuggling operation run by former-special operations forces from the Vietnam War, known as "Shadow Company". The scheme is masterminded by a retired general, Peter McAllister (Mitchell Ryan)—the former commander of Shadow Company—and his chief enforcer, Mr. Joshua (Gary Busey). Hunsaker was laundering the profits through his bank. McAllister had ordered Amanda's murder when her father contacted Murtaugh in an attempt to get out of the scheme. As Murtaugh pressures Hunsaker to reveal the entirety of his operation, Joshua makes a surprise appearance in a helicopter and shoots Hunsaker dead.

As Riggs and Murtaugh attempt to investigate Dixie's connection, Joshua and the increasingly violent members of Shadow Company attempt to kill Riggs (which they believe is successful, though Riggs had been wearing a bulletproof vest) and later kidnap Murtaugh's daughter, Rianne (Traci Wolfe). Using Riggs's presumed dead status to their advantage, Murtaugh agrees to meet Shadow Company at El Mirage Lake to exchange himself for Rianne, knowing Shadow Company's plan is to kill them all anyway. As Riggs provides sniper cover, Roger attempts to make Rianne flee, but he is shot in the arm and all three are captured. McAllister tortures Murtaugh for information regarding the heroin shipment by having his henchmen beat him and rub salt into his bullet wound. McAllister demands to know which of their drug shipments have been compromised, threatening Rianne when Murtaugh refuses to give in. Meanwhile, Joshua has Riggs brutally tortured by a henchman with electric shocks, but Riggs strangles the henchman and proceeds to rescue both Murtaugh and Rianne. The pair then fight their way free of their prison, finding themselves in a downtown L.A. nightclub. Riggs chases Joshua on to the street and attempts to cut him off on the freeway, though Joshua ultimately escapes.

Murtaugh finds McAllister trying to flee and takes out McAllister's driver, then watches as the car crashes on Hollywood Boulevard. An injured McAllister attempts to escape but is killed instantly when the car is destroyed (along with the heroin shipment) by a box of live hand grenades. Riggs and Murtaugh then go to Murtaugh's home, knowing Joshua intends to attack Murtaugh's family, who are already absent. While Joshua is caught by the pair without incident, Riggs, wanting revenge, proposes "a shot at the title", which Joshua eagerly accepts. Sanctioned by Murtaugh, Riggs defeats Joshua in hand-to-hand combat on the front lawn. As he is being arrested, Joshua overpowers two deputy officers and attempts to secure a gun. Riggs and Murtaugh both draw and fire, killing Joshua. Exhausted, Riggs collapses in Murtaugh's arms.

After a visit to his wife's grave, Riggs spends Christmas Day at the Murtaugh home with his new partner's family; Riggs brings his dog Sam to be a friend to the Murtaugh family cat, Burbank. Riggs also gives Murtaugh a symbolic gift: an unfired hollow-point bullet which he had been saving to commit suicide, as he does not need it anymore.

Development[edit]

Recent UCLA graduate Shane Black wrote the screenplay in mid-1985. His agent sent it to producer Joel Silver, who loved the story and worked with Black to further develop the script. After they took it to Warner Bros. in early 1986, studio production executives offered it to director Richard Donner, who also loved it. Leonard Nimoy was one of the choices considered for directing, but he did not feel comfortable doing action films, and he was working on Three Men and a Baby at the time. With those key elements in place, the search began for the right combination of actors to play Riggs and Murtaugh.

Casting director Marion Dougherty first suggested teaming Mel Gibson and Danny Glover. She arranged for Gibson to fly in from his home in Sydney while Glover was flown in from Chicago, where he was appearing in a play, to read through the script. According to a June 2007 Vanity Fair magazine article, Bruce Willis was considered for the Riggs role. This is referenced in the spoof of the Lethal Weapon films, Loaded Weapon 1. Bruce (as John McClane) appears after the villains attack the wrong beach residence, looking for the protagonist.

According to Donner, "It took about two hours and by the time we were done, I was in seventh heaven. They found innuendoes; they found laughter where I never saw it; they found tears where they didn't exist before; and, most importantly, they found a relationship — all in just one reading. So if you ask about casting... it was magical, just total dynamite."

Explains Gibson, "This particular story was a cut above others I had passed on, because the action is really a sideline which heightens the story of these two great characters. I picture Riggs as an almost Chaplinesque figure, a guy who doesn't expect anything from life and even toys with the idea of taking his own. He's not like these stalwarts who come down from Mt. Olympus and wreak havoc and go away. He's somebody who doesn't look like he's set to go off until he actually does."

The draw for Glover was equally strong. Fresh from his success as Mister in The Color Purple, he felt the role of Roger Murtaugh offered a whole new range of character expression and experience. "Aside from the chance to work with Mel, which turned out to be pure pleasure, one of the reasons I jumped at this project was the family aspect. The chance to play intricate relationships and subtle humor that exist in every close family group was an intriguing challenge, as was playing a guy turning 50. Murtaugh's a little cranky about his age until everything he loves is threatened. His reawakening parallels Riggs'."

Both actors were signed by early spring 1986. Gibson and Glover then flew home to pack, and, returning to Los Angeles, began an intensive two months of physical training and preparation. Meanwhile, the crucial role of Joshua was settled when Gary Busey asked for a chance to read for the part. An established star since his Academy Award-nominated performance in The Buddy Holly Story, Busey had not auditioned for longer than he could remember. "I had butterflies," he realized. "I'd never played a bad guy. And no one had seen me since I'd lost 60 pounds and got back into shape. But I decided to take the initiative in order to have the opportunity to work with Dick, Joel, Mel and Danny. I'm constantly looking for someone to pull the best performance out of me and any of those guys could. They even talked me into dyeing my hair!" In his E! True Hollywood Story biography, Busey says he was hired to play Joshua because they were looking for someone big and menacing enough to be a believable foe for Mel Gibson. Busey also credits the film for reviving his failing film career.

Stunt coordinator Bobby Bass planned and supervised all phases of Gibson's and Glover's intense pre-production training; physical conditioning, weight workouts, and weapons handling and safety. Bass also used his own military experiences to bring a greater depth of understanding to the Riggs character. To familiarize the actors with the specialized skills and sensibilities acquired by undercover cops, arrangements were made for Gibson and Glover to spend time in the field accompanying working L.A.P.D. officers. Throughout filming, technical advisers from the L.A.P.D. as well as the L.A. County Sheriff's Department worked closely with Donner and the actors to ensure authenticity.

Filming[edit]

Lethal Weapon began principal photography on August 6, 1986, shooting on locations throughout the Los Angeles area, as well as on the backlot facilities of Burbank Studios. Filming began in Long Beach, with helicopter camera work that would set the tone for the opening title sequence and the first spectacular stunt of the film. The company then moved to Palos Verdes, Santa Monica, Studio City, West Hollywood, and Inglewood with one week out-of-town in El Mirage, an enormous dry lake bed outside Victorville.

From the early pre-production stages of Lethal Weapon, Richard Donner wanted Mel Gibson's final fight sequence to be unique, yet also to make a strong statement about the characters involved. Coincidentally, assistant director Willie Simmons had an avid interest in unusual forms of martial arts, and he invited several practitioners to the set to demonstrate for Donner. The result was the hiring of three technical advisors, each a master of a particular martial arts style.

Cedric Adams was the first expert brought in. "Adams thought the best possible way to show just how lethal Riggs really is — is to show his mastery of a form of martial arts never before seen onscreen," said Donner. Adams taught the actors the movements of Capoeira.[1] A second technical advisor, Dennis Newsome, brought jailhouse rock to the fight sequence.[2] The third technical advisor was Rorion Gracie, who specialized in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.[3]

The filming was spread over four complete nights, shooting from dusk to dawn, resulting in an edited sequence that would last minutes on screen. Principal photography was completed in mid-November 1986. Hollywood city officials hung Christmas decorations on Hollywood Blvd. a few months early so that the scenes shot for this film, particularly the action scenes near the film's end, looked like they happened at the end of the year.

Legendary stunt man Dar Robinson was killed in a motorcycle accident shortly after principal photography was finished. Director Richard Donner dedicated the film to him. Jackie Swanson performed the high fall on her own. She was trained by Dar Robinson. Richard Donner's directing credit appears after Amanda Hunsaker leaps to her death. This is a reference to a joke that Richard Donner films often have sequences of people falling (Lee Remick in The Omen and Margot Kidder in Superman).

One sequence shows a theatre marquee advertising The Lost Boys, a film Donner was producing at the time. A short segment of the 1951 film A Christmas Carol is shown on a television towards the film's end.

Home media[edit]

Lethal Weapon has been released on VHS and DVD numerous times, along with a single Blu-ray Disc release. The first DVD was released in 1997 and featured the film's theatrical version. The Director's Cut was released in 2000. Since then, numerous sets have been released that contain all four films in the series (featuring the same DVDs).[11] The theatrical version was also released on Blu-ray in 2006.[12]

Alternate versions[edit]

An alternate opening and ending were both filmed and can be seen on the Lethal Weapon 4 DVD. The alternate opening featured Martin Riggs drinking alone in a bar where he is accosted by a couple of thugs who attack him for his money, but are easily subdued by Riggs. Director Richard Donner felt the film should open with a brighter look at Riggs, and replaced the bar scene with the scene in which Riggs awakens in his trailer. The alternate ending featured Riggs telling Murtaugh not to retire. Without even thinking about the possibility of sequels, Donner decided that Riggs and Murtaugh's relationship as one of friendship, and filmed the ending that appears in the completed film.

In addition to the film's theatrical release, an extended Directors Cut version was released later on DVD. The Director's Cut version is longer (117 minutes) than the original theatrical release version (110 minutes), and features additional scenes. One extended scene depicts Riggs dispatching a sniper who had been firing at children in a playground. In another scene, Riggs picks up a street-walking prostitute, but instead of having sex with her, he takes her home to watch The Three Stooges on TV, thus illustrating his loneliness following the death of his wife.

Reboot[edit]

On January 19, 2011, Warner Bros. announced plans to reboot the Lethal Weapon franchise without Gibson and Glover. The new franchise would feature the same characters but a brand new cast.[13] Will Beall has been drafted in to pen the script.[14]